Exploring Learning

Conversations about technology in schools often begin from a place of legitimate concern. Families and educators are right to ask questions about distraction, wellbeing, social media, sleep, attention, and the amount of time young people spend in front of screens. These concerns should not be dismissed. They matter because children’s digital lives are complex, and schools have a responsibility to think carefully about how technology shapes learning, relationships, identity, and wellbeing.  However, one distinction is often blurred: Unmanaged recreational screen use is not the same as intentionally designed digital learning. Passive scrolling is not the same as collaborative inquiry. Social media consumption is not the same as learners using digital tools to research, create, communicate, receive feedback, organise ideas, or participate in meaningful communities. When all screen-based experiences are treated as the same, schools risk making decisions based on anxiety rather than on ...

Even as far back as 1988, Elise Boulding stated that to point of global education is to “create a peaceful, interdependent world which would be a good place for people to live”. Idealistically, this is what we all want - however, having worked in five different international schools, and having experienced global education in four different countries, the “tensions between the national and the global, as well as between unity and diversity, remain highly relevant in today’s increasingly globalized world” (Ho, 2009). Finding this balance, of retaining identity and culture whilst at the same time promoting tolerance and peace, is exactly the point, to me, of what a global education means, echoed by Global Education for Canadians (2017), which recognises that “relationships with emerging countries are becoming increasingly important” for a successful future. If the global workforce is increasingly dependent on technology (Adams, 2002; Karkouti, 2016) and the point of education is to ready...

I was the event manager for a Google Bootcamp in October 2017, which was hosted at my school, ACS Doha International School. Marketing asked me to cover the event and I wrote this article for a magazine, Qatar Today, published November 2017.

To What Extent Does a Successful BYOD Programme Affect the Engagement and Motivation of Secondary School Learners?  This paper outlines current research into Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programmes in schools based on the experience of institutions currently employing the system. It explores the impact BYOD programmes have had on the engagement and motivation of secondary school learners, as well as the affect on achievement in tests and assessment in comparison to students not utilising mobile technologies in their learning. The experience of both private sector businesses and schools informs guidelines and advice for the successful implementation of a BYOD programme. SEE INFOGRAPHIC OF THIS ESSAY HERE Whilst some see technology in education as a “democratizer”, as a way of allowing “students from all backgrounds to access the same resources and tools”, to others, it potentially causes “great harm, widening an already substantial achievement gap related to issues of equity...

White Sand Beach, Coral Island nr  Tioman Island Since last July, I have had the privilege not only to have lived in Singapore but to have visited Thailand twice - Phuket last summer and Hua Hin for Christmas - Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, Qatar and the beautiful Tioman Island in Malaysia three times! In fact, my family and I just spent the last three weeks on Tioman after a very stressful few weeks of job hunting (see Testing Times ) and packing up to leave Singapore. Upon our return from Tioman, we spent a lovely busy four days in Singapore visiting and saying goodbyes to all the wonderful friends we had made, before finally flying out to a new adventure in Qatar, where we arrived two days ago. In the middle of all this, I have been offered the opportunity to Project Manage one of Julie Lindsay's Flat Connection projects, Global Youth Debate (formerly Eracism). This exciting project joins schools across the globe and provides essential skills of research, collabora...

I recently became certified as a digital citizenship educator. I wrote an article for The Guardian , which was published yesterday. The Guardian, Wednesday 15 January 2014:  http://gu.com/p/3ypzy

As part of my the Information and Media Literacy unit I just completed for my M.Ed in Integrating Technology, I had to explore personal learning networks. My post  PLN: A brief review  outlines the new one I tried - The Educator's PLN ( edupln.ning.com ) - in comparison with my trusted favourite , Twitter ( Twitter.com ). Twitter, of course,  came out tops. I have been using Twitter for over a year now and I find it invaluable as a resource for ideas, support and news. I recently spoke at the Google Summit KL, and in the scripting session I attended by Evan Scherr*, he finished by asking how many of us in the room were on Twitter? I was shocked at the poor response, but glad he then evanglised  about how educators must be on Twitter. I agree with him whole-heartedly , it is an essential tool in being conected  with a global network of like-minded educators - and if you are not connected, you are missing out.  This morning I read a great p...